Inner Storm
by Spunky0ne
Summary: After arriving in the Seireitei following the quincy attack, Ichigo discovers that he shares a powerful resonance with the injured Kuchiki Byakuya. By day, he must protect the Seireitei, but when he sleeps, he returns to Byakuya's inner world, where the noble struggles against his own stolen powers. mpreg
1. Holding On

**Inner Storm**

**By Spunky0ne**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**(For the storm of people who PM'd me for an Ichi/Bya related to the new chapters. Thought I'd give that a try! Thanks to all for the suggestion.)**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_Not yet..._

_It isn't time yet._

_Just a little bit longer and he will be here._

_They said he was coming, and Ichigo is an honorable person, who always keeps his word._

The battlefield had gone quiet and nothing moved in front of Byakuya but the gently falling rain.

_Just...a bit longer, now._

_He will be..._

_He will..._

He swore inwardly as he faded out for a time, only able to manage the slow intake and shuddering exhale of breath. Blood still warmed his skin, here and there, but the raindrops brought an uncomfortable chill, and he hoped fervently that he would finally go numb soon, so that when the substitute shinigami arrived, he could speak without shivering. Despite everything, it seems he still had some small amount of pride to protect.

He tried again to sense Rukia or Renji, but found his reiatsu far too depleted. As far gone as he was, he was existing on will alone, steadfastly refusing to believe for a moment that Ichigo would either fail him, or simply be too late. But then, when one earned Kuchiki Byakuya's trust, he gave it completely.

He heard a flash step in the distance and his somehow still seeing eyes spotted a light in the sky. A dark figure came down out of the clouds, moving swiftly in his direction. And even with no reiatsu to tell him, Byakuya knew this wasn't an enemy. It was the one he had waited for. He yielded a very small, hidden sound of relief as Ichigo moved closer, slowing as he registered the devastating damage that the Kuchiki clan leader and Squad Six taichou had taken. Knowing his situation was dire, Byakuya wasted no time in getting to what was most important.

"Are Rukia...and Renji...s-still alive?" he managed, only shivering slightly.

"Yeah," Ichigo said, his voice betraying an intense effort to maintain control, "They're alive. They're fine."

Byakuya wasn't sure if the young man was telling him the truth or just being kind, but he chose the 'truth' that he needed in that moment, and opted to believe Ichigo's words.

"I see," he panted softly, "G-good."

It took him a few moments before he could go on.

"I will not...last much longer. Despite being a Gotei 13 taichou, I was unable to defeat the foul enemy who invaded the Seireitei, resulting in the deaths of thousands of valuable warriors, causing...suffering in their families. And in the end, I was defeated miserably. It brings a disgrace that permeates every fiber of my being."

He saw Ichigo's hand tighten on his blade, but the substitute shinigami allowed him to continue.

"To add to this humiliation...now, you, a mere human boy, who shouldn't even have come to this battlefield...that...I must...ask you this favor."

He felt a burning heat in his eyes and felt something warm that wasn't blood run down his face. He hadn't the blood left in his body to flush with embarrassment.

"Please, excuse my despicable behavior," he whispered, shuddering as a soft, icy breeze touched his damp skin, "Please...protect Soul Society...Kurosaki Ichigo."

It was a relief to get the words out...to know that Ichigo had heard them. Byakuya didn't look up, but only waited quietly, then, for some sort of answer. Out of the corner of one gray eye, he registered the dark, tormented rage that had taken over the youth's handsome face...the rising rage that meant that he would soon be doing battle. And he was wholly unsurprised when Ichigo's reiatsu swelled so heatedly that it shook the already crumbled wreckage all around them. His hand moved, and Zangetsu flew out and away, landing in front of Bach and stopping him in his tracks. Byakuya watched in silence as Ichigo's furious eyes met his, and an understanding passed between them. Then, the youth was gone, and Byakuya found himself alone again, with the rain coming down hard enough now to wash the blood off of his drenched skin.

"No answer," he whispered, "It's fine. That's how he is."

He turned his eyes quietly in the direction that Ichigo had gone.

"Even if you don't answer, I know."

It seemed that a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. His confession made, responsibility for his shortcomings taken, his penance in pain done and Ichigo's promise understood, Byakuya gathered what pride he had left and pulled himself free of the bloodstained wall. He stumbled forward slowly, finally feeling blessed numbness settle in. But he kept his feet, standing tall, even as death approached. He breathed in the rain freshened air and felt dizziness sweep over him.

"I am counting on you, Kurosaki Ichigo," he whispered.

His vision dimming, he was vaguely aware of the Senbonzakura slipping free of his remaining hand. He heard the sharp cracking sound as the hilt began to disintegrate, but was spared anything further as he lost consciousness and began a long, slow fall.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Unohana-san," Ichigo said desperately, "I've heard that Byakuya was brought in from the battlefield. Shinji told me that Rukia and Renji are gonna be okay, but no one will tell me anything about Byakuya! Is he...is he still alive?"

"He is alive," the healer confirmed wearily, "although several times during his healing, he began to fade. It was very close, but we were finally able to stabilize him. He will live, although it is uncertain if he will be able to return to his duties as a taichou, or if he will even wake. He sustained devastating injuries and was forced to wait too long on the battlefield before he could be evacuated to the fourth division. I am sorry, Kurosaki-san. I wish that I had better news."

"Well," said Ichigo, "at least he is alive. That's something, ne?"

Unohana nodded briefly.

"Would it...be all right if I went in to see him?" asked the youth, looking in the direction of the noble's treatment room.

"You may see him for a few minutes while we are preparing to move him to a private room."

"Thank you," Ichigo said gratefully, "Of all of my friends, he is the one who I most failed today. I just need to tell him I'm sorry."

"Oh, Kurosaki-san," Unohana said, shaking her head sadly, "Do not think so lowly of yourself. You did not know that this crisis was coming, and you came as quickly as you could. I know that your arrival was a comfort to Kuchiki taichou. He spoke your name several times in his delirium. I think it helped him to remain strong. And I think it will be good for him to hear your voice now."

"But isn't he in a coma?" asked Ichigo, looking confused.

"Yes, however, often people who have been in comas, when they wake, speak of being outside their bodies, sometimes even able to see and hear what goes on around them, to describe it in great detail, when they wake. Speak what words you need to, and I assure you, Kuchiki taichou will hear you."

"Huh..." sighed the shinigami substitute, "All right. If you say so."

Ichigo felt a strange weakness in his legs and a pitching in his stomach as he walked towards the room. He remembered, with a chill, how Byakuya had looked, covered in blood and missing one slender hand. He swallowed hard, tears threatening, and forced the thought away. His hand shook slightly as he laid it on the treatment room door, but he took a steadying breath and pushed the door open.

Byakuya laid on the treatment table, dressed in a clean, white yukata, and motionless except for the slow, steady rise and fall of his breathing. Thankfully, the blood had been washed off of his pale skin, and the horrid slashes had been healed. His left hand was still missing, but his arm had been carefully wrapped. And Ichigo knew that even if he wasn't treated for a while, Inoue was more than capable of restoring the noble's missing hand. So that wasn't so much of a problem, really. What was a problem was that he remained unconscious.

_Unconscious, and they say that he might never wake._

_I just can't accept that...not of Byakuya. People don't come much stronger than he is. But...he took so much damage this time. I didn't come close to killing Byakuya when we fought. He got pretty banged up in Hueco Mundo, but that was mostly because he and Kenpachi Zaraki tangled with each other after they got through with Yammy. Then, when he fought Tsukishima, he was cut up a little. But never...never have I seen him take the kind of damage he took this time._

_Thank kami he's alive..._

_Now, there's at least a chance of making this up to him._

He moved closer, reaching Byakuya's bedside and looking down at him silently for several long minutes as he tried to think of what to say. It wasn't like before, when he had first seen the horrific damage done to his one-time foe turned friend...when the shock of seeing the noble's pristine body slashed and bloodied had stopped his voice and made the anger rise up in him like billowing flame. There was no anger now, only sorrow and lingering worry.

_This conflict with the quincys has just begun. And already, they took out the old man and incapacitated Byakuya and Kenpachi. Add to that, what that guy said about me...about my mom._

Ichigo sighed and ran his hands over his face.

_I won't think about that now. I have to think about my friends...taking care of them and making sure that bastard doesn't hurt them anymore. He and his army have already done too much damage. We've just got to hope that between Urahara-san and Kurotsuchi Mayuri that they can come up with a way to stop those assholes from stealing any more bankais._

He sighed softly, taking in Byakuya's comely face, that looked impossibly young and vulnerable, now that the noble had been stripped of all of the markers of his status. Now, he was just a very beautiful and tragically injured shinigami, whom Ichigo called his friend.

"You look better now...more comfortable," he said, finally, sitting down in a chair beside the treatment table, "I was...really relieved when Unohana-san told me that you were going to be all right."

He paused for a moment, biting at his lips and trying to think of the right words.

"I haven't forgotten my promise, Byakuya. I will protect all of you. I wasn't able to stop that guy. But he left, and that will give Urahara-san and Kurotsuchi Mayuri time to work on how to stop the quincys from stealing bankai from the taichous and fukutaichous that still have them. And...they're going to find a way to give your powers back to you. I promise you. You and Senbonzakura will be together again real soon. Just...you have to focus on getting better, okay? Leave the worrying to me and just...be calm and think about what it's gonna be like to wake up back in your own bed at Kuchiki Manor. And whatever you do," he said, resting a hand on Byakuya's soft, slender one, "Don't leave us...okay?"

He caught his breath softly as soft, white light flared around his hand, where it touched Byakuya's. He felt his heart skip oddly, and his head spun for a moment, before settling.

"Ichigo-san?" said a quiet, stunned sounding, male voice from the doorway.

Ichigo stood and turned to face the person who had arrived, and found himself looking at Byakuya's younger, half-noble cousin, Tetsuya.

"Tetsuya?" he queried, "What...what's wrong?"

Tetsuya's lovely, sapphire eyes gazed down at where Ichigo's hand still held Byakuya's.

"N-nothing is wrong, exactly," the noble answered slowly, "and in fact, it may rather be something very right."

"Huh? You want to tell me what you're getting all mystical about? What's going on?"

"Oh," said Tetsuya, "It is something that I read in the clan leader diaries while in the archive with my cousin...an old story about our family patriarch, Kuchiki Hajime."

"O-kay..."

"Hajime was not born in the usual way, but made from the branches and petals of an ancient sakura tree in the king's gardens. That is why all of the Kuchiki noble's are scented with sakura. But legend has it that after the king made the first five nobles, the patriarchs of the five great noble houses, he touched Hajime's hand, and white light glowed around their joined hands, signifying the presence of a perfect resonance."

"A...resonance?" Ichigo asked, frowning, "What are you talking about? What does that mean?"

"All souls that cross paths have some amount of resonance with each other," Tetsuya explained, "But there are some rare souls that it is said, are fated to interact in some special way."

"Well," Ichigo said, a little skeptically, "Byakuya and I have already interacted, both as enemies, then as friends. If there is this resonance, then why would it pop up now?"

"No one knows why the resonance happens. We only know that it first happened between Hajime and the first incarnation of the spirit king, and that Hajime went on to become the king's consort and the first King's Samurai. When the spirit demon, Diablo sought to kill the king, it was Hajime who slew him. Thus, it is said that when there is a perfect resonance, the affected will share in some exchange of love and protection, and that none can say how such a thing will play out."

"Heh," Ichigo chuckled, taking it lightly as he tended to take such things, "Well, I can tell you one thing. I don't think Byakuya's interested in me like that. So love's not really an option. And he's already been beaten to within an inch of his life, so it's kinda late to be thinking about protection. Still...it is...nice to think that we have some kind of bond. I want him to get well again, and if this helps, then I'm okay with it."

He gave Tetsuya a placating look, and the noble looked back at him with perfect seriousness.

"So, uh, what do we do with this soul resonance? How does it work?" the youth asked.

"I thought you didn't hold with such things," Tetsuya said, smirking.

"Well," said the substitute shinigami, "If there's any chance of it helping him to wake up, then just tell me how and I'll give it a try."

"Actually, the resonance is not something that you will need to 'do something about,' but something that will reveal itself to the two of you. Just...keep an open mind. And...at such times as things get quiet and you lie down to rest, focus your mind on Byakuya-sama, and perhaps something will come to you. I wish I could be more helpful, but..."

"Don't worry about it," Ichigo said wearily, "It's not the first thing that hasn't gone right for me today. Anyway...I just came to see how he was. He got really messed up out there. I tried to get here faster. I really did, but..."

"It isn't your fault, Ichigo-san," Tetsuya said, shaking his head, "You cannot expect to stop something so large as this was. All we can do is go on from here."

"Right..." sighed the substitute shinigami, "But, hey, is Kuchiki Manor all right? I heard that after the initial fights, the regular troops came in and really laid waste to anything that was left."

Tetsuya's eyes grew troubled.

"Yes. And I am afraid that the noble estates were not spared. In addition, the enemy leader sent assassination squads to eliminate the heads of the clans."

"Oh my kami!" gasped Ichigo, "Tell me that they...!"

"Unfortunately, they managed to kill more than a few of the most powerful clan leaders. There was also a lot of collateral damage...many women and children killed and injured as well."

"Damn..." Ichigo said, the pain returning to his heart, "Tetsuya-san..."

"Our clan was somewhat lucky. Due to an early warning system that Byakuya-sama and I designed together, the manor was evacuated in time, and the family and Kuchiki elders escaped harm. All that we suffered was damage to our property, which can be mended. But we did also suffer the great injury of our leader, as he tried to defend all of us. The elders have taken control of clan matters, so there is order. But...we need Byakuya-sama to return. There is great distress amongst the family and he is most adept at calming things."

"But he's been hurt really badly," Ichigo said sadly, "And no one seems to even know if he will..."

"He will," Tetsuya said, tightening his lips, "He must."

"Yeah," Ichigo said, comforted somewhat by the blue-eyed noble's conviction, "He will."

"You should go and get some rest, Ichigo-san," Tetsuya suggested, as Unohana taichou and several other healers entered the room, "They will be moving Byakuya-sama to a private room and getting him settled in. You can come and visit him again later, after you have restored your energy."

"That is very good advice, Kurosaki-san," Unohana said, smiling at him.

Ichigo quivered inside, and once again wondered how the woman could possibly be so scary, while not even losing her smile.

"Y-yeah, well..."

The healer's hand brushed against him, and Ichigo felt his legs give way. He was caught up by two healers as Tetsuya exchanged knowing glances with Unohana.

"Thank you," said Tetsuya, "Ichigo-san is overwrought over what has happened, and yet will bear the greater part of the weight of resolving this conflict. He does need to restore himself."

"Not to worry, Kuchiki-san," Unohana said brightly, "We will see that Kurosaki-san is well rested when he faces what comes next. Come now, let us see to getting your cousin settled into his room."

"Again, I thank you."

The healer turned her kind eyes on Tetsuya.

"Were you injured in the attack, Kuchiki-san?" she asked.

"Just a bit," Tetsuya admitted, "but our clan healers made quick work of it, and I am well enough now to stand guard on my cousin."

"Very well," said the healer, "Let us go and see to making him comfortable."

XXXXXXXXXX

Ichigo's mind spun in circles, making him move restlessly in his sleep. Outside the fourth division, the rain fell steadily and lightning flickered off and on. The young man flinched uncomfortably, reliving his arrival in the Seireitei, and his meeting with the badly injured Kuchiki clan leader. But in this dream, Byakuya didn't speak at all. He merely sank to the ground at Ichigo's feet, dying before he could say anything.

_"Byakuya!" he cried, dropping to his knees in the rubble and gathering the dead shinigami in his arms, "Byakuya, I'm sorry! I tried to get here faster! Byakuya! Byakuya!"_

"Byakuya!" he cried, sitting up, wide-eyed as thunder crashed, loud enough to rattle the windows.

The door to the room he had been placed in opened, and a young healer poked his head inside.

"Are you all right, Kurosaki-san?" he asked quickly.

"Y-yeah, kid," Ichigo sighed, a shiver going through him as he remembered the awful dream, "I'm okay. It was just a bad dream. I'll be fine."

"Okay, Kurosaki-san," the youth said, bowing, "Please call us if you need anything."

"Yeah, okay, I'll do that," he agreed.

He watched the healer leave, then laid on the bed in the darkness, watching the intermittent flickers of light from the storm.

_"...at such times as things get quiet and you lie down to rest," _Tetsuya's voice repeated in his mind_, "focus your mind on Byakuya-sama, and perhaps something will come to you."_

Ichigo closed his eyes and tried to picture the noble's face in his mind. He winced and blinked as his mind was assaulted again with the image of Byakuya, cut to pieces and dying...Byakuya, as he had been in that nightmare, falling to the ground and dying before he could even speak.

_Kami, what's wrong with me! I'm...so freaked out about him being hurt...dying. What's going on? What's wrong with me?_

He took several calming breaths and focused on how peaceful the noble had looked, resting comfortably in bed, after being healed. He tried to imagine the lovely, dark, trusting eyes opening and looking at him, but the very thought brought tears to his eyes.

_Byakuya..._

He started to drift off, and as he did, his spirit ribbon fluttered and extended, traveling out of his room and back down the hallway to where the noble laid, unconscious. And as the two relaxed in sleep and unconsciousness, Ichigo's spirit ribbon curled gently around the injured shinigami's body.

Ichigo felt as though he was falling...opened his eyes and stared.

He was no longer in the fourth division, nor anywhere he had ever been in his life. And the place he was in was pretty and undamaged, not at all like the destroyed Seireitei, where he had fallen asleep. All around him, sakura and plum trees blossomed. And the sun shined gently on everything, with light breezes teasing soft petals into fluttering down from the trees.

"I must be dreaming," he whispered.

But there was something about this dream that seemed very, very odd. And odd became frightening as he found himself approaching a small garden teahouse, where a lone shinigami laid in a bed.

A moment later, he realized who the man was.

"Byakuya!" he cried, running forward.

He slid to a stop as pink petals swirled up from the trees and flew at him from all directions.

"Senbonzakura, is that you?" he cried, "Stop it! It's me! It's Ichigo!"

But although the petal blades continued to block his path to Byakuya, the spirit of his zanpakutou never answered.

_Oh, my kami! This is no dream! I've entered Byakuya's inner world. But...something is wrong. I can't get past these petals. They make a wall too thick for me to go through. I have to get to him. I feel it..._

_But how?_


	2. Reaching Through

**Chapter 2: Reaching Through**

**(Requested by a petalstorm of readers! Enjoy!)**

"Senbonzakura!" Ichigo cried again, letting his reiatsu swell around him to ward off the hurricane of petal blades, "Senbonzakura, it's Kurosaki Ichigo. You must know that Byakuya is hurt. He may be dying. You have to let me get to him!"

He scanned the area around him for some sign of the masked samurai.

"Senbonzakura! Can you hear me?"

Still unable to connect with the spirit, Ichigo loosed his reiatsu around him, pushing forward against the petals again. The sea of petal blades spun more wildly, still forceful enough to resist his intrusion.

"I guess there's no choice," he concluded, "Byakuya, I am sorry about this, but if it's between you and Senbonzakura, I am going to have to hurt your zanpakutou to save you. Please forgive me."

He raised his reiatsu and let it flow into his raised blade, then he pointed the blade towards the teahouse in the distance.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" he cried.

White light flared around him as his power was released, and he watched it coalesce and strike at the cloud of petal blades in front of him. He sprang forward, angling towards an opening his attack had made, but found himself quickly driven back under the force of the petal blades.

"Damn it!" he swore, "What am I supposed to do? Byakuya needs me. I can feel his soul calling for me. I have to get to him, but how?"

He gazed into the cloud of threatening petals in front of him and thought carefully.

_Maybe if I use bankai..._

_But I could damage Senbonzakura, even kill him. I don't know if Byakuya would forgive me for that. But I can't just walk away and let him die. I have to do something..._

He agonized for several minutes longer, entranced by the spinning blades, then swallowed hard and increased his power again.

"Bankai," he said softly, pointing his sword at the petal blades again, "Tensa Zangetsu."

White fire flared around him as his shihakushou changed and Zangetsu took in his more slender, condensed form.

_All right, Byakuya. Hang in there. I'm coming to you._

Ichigo loosed a snarl of determination as he swept forward, launching another blast of power, then firing himself at the somewhat larger opening his attack created. He was almost through when he heard the sound of soft, wicked laughter, and the space in front of him closed again. The petal blades spun all around him, slashing wildly at him from every direction. With a howl of fury, Ichigo struck with all of his bankai's speed, cutting apart the petals that attacked, as he retreated a short distance, and stood, panting and looking through the haze of petals to his friend who still laid, unmoving and alone just past them.

_Even bankai power is not working. How am I going to break through this and get to him? It won't be any good if I really have to destroy Senbonzakura to get to him. No, there has to be another way..._

He thought back to what had happened in the healing center, the white light that had risen around their hands as they had touched and Tetsuya's reaction and explanation.

_It sounds far-fetched, but I have to admit that I am out of answers. If what Tetsuya said was true, then it means that Byakuya and I are meant to do something important together. That means that he's got to live. I can't fail him now. I have to break through and get to him._

_But how?_

He thought back to how he had been drawn into Byakuya's world.

_I couldn't have gotten in here if Byakuya hadn't wanted me to come. He wants me with him, but it looks like the fact that Senbonzakura was stolen has turned him against his master, and he doesn't want me to reach Byakuya to help him._

_So, what should I do?_

_Tetsuya said that our souls are resonating. That means there is a strong connection. That connection pulled me into Byakuya's inner world in the first place. Maybe it can help me to get to him!_

Ichigo closed his eyes and pictured Byakuya in his mind. He focused on his soul ribbon and cast it carefully in Byakuya's direction, holding his breath as it approached the swell of pink petal blades and very slowly passed through.

_I'm coming to you, Byakuya!_

He opened his eyes and peered through the petals, watching as his soul ribbon approached the teahouse where the noble laid, and gently slithered inside. Ahead of the shinigami substitute, the petals raged into a blinding storm, roaring with intensity as they moved towards him.

Ichigo stared down the onslaught of petals, his mind going blank, except for his singular focus...reaching Byakuya, where he laid on the other side of the petal storm.

_I won't fail you this time. This time, I am going to reach you._

Ichigo closed his eyes again and pictured himself following the path of his soul ribbon, passing through the storm of petal blades and touching down just inside the teahouse. He imagined himself dropping down at Byakuya's side and touching the noble's sleeping face, watching and smiling as his friend opened his wide, gray eyes.

And as he pictured it, what he saw in his mind began to happen. He felt himself floating forward and passing through the petals as though they were only an illusion. He reached the other side and floated to the steps of the teahouse, then slowly came down to the ground and stepped inside.

He heard an infuriated roar behind him and looked back to see where the air all around the little teahouse was filled with deadly petal blades. They screamed through the air, even beginning to damage the lovely trees and flowers that were a part of the noble's inner world.

"Don't worry, Senbonzakura," Ichigo whispered, "I'm going to save Byakuya, and then he and I are going to save you."

He walked slowly to Byakuya's side and knelt, just as he had imagined himself doing.

"I'm here, Byakuya," he said, reaching down and touching the noble's face very gently to stir him.

Byakuya neither stirred, nor made a sound. Unnerved, Ichigo checked and found that he was breathing and that his heart was beating, but that he seemed otherwise unresponsive. He massaged Byakuya's wrists and patted his face, calling his name and urging him to wake.

"C'mon, Byakuya. Wake up, all right? I want to help you, but you have to work with me here."

He closed his eyes again, focusing deeply on Byakuya's sleeping body and letting his spirit ribbon wrap around the noble, then slip inside to seek his. He found it curled tightly, far down in the depths of the stricken shinigami's shocked soul, coiled for self protection against the attacks of his own power.

"It's okay now," Ichigo said softly, "I'm here now. Senbonzakura can't hurt us while we are in here. Come on, Byakuya, latch onto me and let me wake you up!"

He felt Byakuya's spirit ribbon flicker, then sluggishly begin to move towards his.

"That's right. Just take it slow and reach out for me. I'm going to help you."

Time slowed to an agonizing crawl and sweat broke out on Ichigo's forehead as he held his concentration and fought his way, inch by inch, to reach the noble's spirit ribbon. He let out a sob of triumph as their spirit ribbons finally touched, and he felt the strong brush of Byakuya's life force.

_Ichigo..._, the noble's voice whispered in his mind.

"I'm here," the young man said, tears coming to his eyes as Byakuya's body finally stirred, "You're going to be okay now."

He laid his hands gently on the noble's softly rising and falling chest, slowly infusing him with strengthening reiatsu. Byakuya shifted and moaned softly as he began to wake.

"Ichigo?" he whispered, "Ichigo, is that you?"

The noble's wide, gray eyes blinked open and gradually focused on him. Ichigo smiled at him.

"Good to see you awake again," he said in a relieved tone.

"Ichigo," Byakuya whispered, "How did you...how did you find me?"

He started to sit up, then winced and fell back again.

"Take it easy. You were hurt really badly and you're still healing."

Byakuya's eyelids fluttered and he looked around them, frowning and trying to make sense of things.

"Ichigo, how did you get here? How did you enter my inner world?" he asked, looking confused.

"I don't know exactly," the younger man explained, "I went to see you in the healing center, and something strange happened when I touched your hand. There was this...white light and I felt some kind of connection form."

"A...connection?"

"Yeah," Ichigo affirmed, "Then, your cousin walked in and saw. He told me that our souls were resonating strongly, and that it was something that had to do with the first Kuchiki that the soul king made. He said that it meant that we were supposed to..."

"Ah..." said Byakuya, trying again to sit up, and this time succeeding, "I see."

He looked down quietly at his hands, suddenly remembering how he had lost one in the fighting. He flinched at the memory of his devastating loss, and at the disappearance of his connection with Senbonzakura.

"You okay?" Ichigo asked softly, slipping an arm around him.

The younger man read the noble's discomfort and squeezed his hand gently.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with you that we can't fix, okay? What you and I can't manage, Orihime can take care of. Don't worry."

"I am not worried by that," Byakuya said, looking up at the younger man for a moment, then back down at his hands, where they rested on the blanket.

Ichigo left him sitting there, and crossed the room to where he found tea leaves and cups. He heated some water and made them each a cup of hot green tea, then returned to the noble, who was still sitting in the bed, but now looking out of the teahouse to where Senbonzakura's petals swirled so angrily outside.

"Byakuya," Ichigo said, handing the noble his tea, "You're going to get him back."

Byakuya took a sip of the tea, then sighed and closed his eyes against the words.

"How do you know that?" he asked in a low voice, "We do not know anything about what those medallions actually do. It is entirely possible that I will never..."

"Hey!" Ichigo said, interrupting him, "Don't talk like that. I just went through hell and out the other side to come in here and help you. Don't give me any shit about it being hopeless. You're going to get your powers back."

"Ichigo, I heard what was said about my condition," Byakuya said, frowning, "They don't know if I will ever wake, and if I do, it is doubtful that..."

"Shut up about that, will you?" Ichigo snapped, "It's not gonna happen that way."

"Oh?" the noble queried, a note of sarcasm in his voice, "You sound very sure of yourself...as usual."

"Huh," Ichigo huffed, smirking, "and you sound all high and mighty like always. I see that nearly dying hasn't changed that."

"Do you not understand? I am still dying, Ichigo, "Look outside. Senbonzakura has begun to destroy my inner world. The rain has already begun to fall. And as it destabilizes, you will be in danger of dying with me. You must leave now, Ichigo. You are needed to help stop the quincies. You cannot be bothered with rescuing me right now."

"Hey, take it easy," Ichigo said, shaking his head, "I am still gonna do everything I have to. Tetsuya explained to me that during my waking hours, I will take care of business out there, and when I sleep, I can come here to help you."

"I don't recall asking for your help," the noble commented stubbornly, "and besides, who are you to interfere with my fate?"

Ichigo leaned forward, placing his hands on the noble's arms and glaring into his surprised eyes.

"I'm the guy whose soul, for whatever reason, resonates perfectly with yours! So quit being stubborn and drink your damned tea! We need to work together to find a way out of this."

The shinigami substitute released the noble's arms and shoved the tea back into his hand, then rose and walked to the teahouse entry. He looked out at the storm of petals and rain and sighed in frustration. Byakuya sipped at the tea and set it down again, then laid down and looked over at the younger man, studying his worried expression.

"Will you tell me something?" he asked quietly, "While I understand what you said about our resonance, what eludes me is why you want to help me. You saw how badly I failed to protect my subordinates. Many were killed and badly injured, Ichigo. And I barely put a scratch on my enemy."

"I know all that," Ichigo said, off-handedly, "And I don't care."

"What?"

"I said I don't care," Ichigo repeated, turning back and moving to Byakuya's side to sit down again, "You think that _I_ don't know what it's like to get beaten in a fight? I've had my ass handed to me by you, Kenpachi and a whole list of others...remember?"

"Ah...I do," agreed the noble, "But..."

"But the difference is that even though I lost and I failed to protect my friends those times, I got up off my ass and just got stronger until I could protect them the way I wanted to. Sometimes it's not about who wins the most battles, it's about who keeps getting up and fighting, even after getting beaten. Did you lose? Yeah. Did people you care about get hurt and killed? Sure. But...you're still alive. And even though you might feel like you don't deserve it, you have another chance to go out and fight for the ones who are still here. Yeah, some people died, but Rukia and Renji and a lot of your subordinates survived. And they are going to be looking at you to lead them."

"Why?" Byakuya asked, frowning, "Why would _anyone_ look up to me?"

"Baka!" Ichigo snapped furiously, "Look around you! Nobody won a battle on our side today...not even me. You're not the only one who was beaten. So, what are you saying? We should all lie down and give up, just because we got our asses kicked? I don't think so. That doesn't sound at all like the arrogant, badass taichou I know. Where's that guy, because that's the guy I came here to find."

"I am sorry to disappoint you," Byakuya replied, sipping at his tea, then gazing down at his reflection in the cup, "but right now, remaining lucid is a struggle. I am afraid I am a long way from being either arrogant or...what did you say? _Badass_?"

"Yeah," Ichigo answered, amusement calming his anger somewhat, "But you're going to get better. I'm going to help you do that."

"Why?" Byakuya asked, meeting his eyes with complete seriousness.

"Because you're my friend," the shinigami substitute replied, lowering his eyes, "And that's what friends do for each other. And you know, Byakuya, it hasn't gotten past me that you have watched out for me before. Just think of it as me returning the favor."

"But Ichigo," the noble objected, "Do you not realize? You have never once been indebted to me...and I have only become more and more indebted to you. What you have done for me is monumental. I have done nothing on that level for you. How can you...?"

"Then, if you want to do something monumental for me, take care of yourself. Make yourself strong again. What happened today was just the beginning. The fight is only going to get harder. And if we're going to protect the people we care about, then we have to pick up the pieces and keep going."

Byakuya went silent for a moment, his dark eyes reflective and thoughtful.

"And _I_ am one of those people who you care about?" he asked softly.

"Huh," Ichigo mused, shaking his head and rolling his eyes, "Are you stupid? Why in the hell do you think I'm here?"

He flinched and caught his breath as he felt a tugging on his spirit ribbon and felt himself pulled back towards his body in the healing center.

"Ichigo?" Byakuya called after him.

"It's okay," the younger man assured him, "I'll be back. I promise. Just...stay where you are and I'll come back for you."

"Ichigo," Byakuya repeated in a whisper, as the shinigami substitute disappeared from his inner world.

He looked out at the storm of petals and rain, shivering as lightning flashed and thunder rumbled all around. But even though he shivered at the thought of what was happening to his inner world...despite everything...

Byakuya still trusted those last words.

_"I'll be back. I promise."_


	3. Love's First Kiss

**Chapter 3: The Fading**

_Byakuya._

_Why did you do this?_

_Why did you let me go?_

_Such darkness is all around me now. I cannot see. The hand that holds me is not yours. The heart that guides me is black and the voice that commands me is icy and wicked! Weren't we part of the same soul? Didn't we both give everything to becoming stronger? You told me when your father died that you wanted to grow stronger so that such a thing would not happen again. You wanted to protect the ones you loved from enemies like the one who killed your father._

_But despite the strength of that vow, you have failed me._

"Senbonzakura?" Byakuya said, sitting up quickly.

His heart quickened at the realization that he had awakened alone in the darkness of night. Dizziness swept over him at having sat up too quickly, and he paused, reeling and blinking to clear the haze of spots that danced before his eyes.

_I feel even weaker than when I woke before._

He swallowed hard, listening to the lonely howl of the wind outside the teahouse and the slashing sound of the swirling petals that were slowly destroying his inner world.

_How do I make them stop?_

_Senbonzakura, how do I find my way back to you?_

The wind sounded again, carrying on it the trickle of falling rain.

_Broken apart, we begin to fall into despair._

"But to despair is to turn our backs on everything that is important to us."

Byakuya climbed slowly to his feet and made his way to the invisible barrier that protected him from the petal blades that stormed furiously outside the small teahouse.

"I will not allow myself to take the pathway of despair. There is a way to find you again. And I will promise you that when I am strong enough, I will come for you, Senbonzakura. I will not abandon you."

But as resolute as he was in his path, the noble was soundly shaken as his already diminished reiatsu began to flicker ominously. Waves of dizziness swept over him, making him sway dangerously on his feet. His vision dimmed and he was sure that he could hear someone calling his name in a desperate tone. He couldn't tell anymore who it was, but clung precariously to the sound as everything around him became distorted and surreal.

_Byakuya, don't leave me!_

_You promised that you would come for me!_

_Byakuya!_

"Byakuya?"

"Wh-who is it? Who is there?" the noble whispered feverishly.

He tried to open his eyes, but found them too heavily lidded to move. Fire seemed to burn everywhere on his skin.

"It's me. It's Ichigo."

His mind swam, searching for a connection to the person's voice.

"Ichigo?" he repeated haltingly, "I don't..."

"C'mon," the voice said bracingly, "Don't tell me you forgot me. Ichigo...Kurosaki Ichigo. I'm the guy who broke your sword to save your sister...the one who stopped Aizen Sousuke from destroying Soul Society. And now, I'm the guy who is going to keep you from dying, Byakuya. I told you. I won't let you die. So, you'd just better give up on doing that. C'mon, Byakuya, open your eyes."

Byakuya strained against the blackness that seemed to wrap around him, swallowing him whole and making that warm, calming voice begin to fade away. But just when it seemed that it would disappear, he felt a sound jolt pass through him, then a pulling sensation.

_"This is reckless, Ichigo-san!" cried a youthful, male voice, "He could drag you down into death with him! Ichigo-san! Ichigo-san, you have to let go of him!"_

_"No! Damn it, I told him I wouldn't let him die, and if it's the last thing I do, I'm going to keep him here! You either be quiet and help me or just get out! I won't tell you again, Hanatarou. I am not letting Byakuya die!"_

The voices grew fuzzy and faded away again for a time. Then a soft buzzing filled his mind and another voice reached him, this one feminine...cool and almost seductive.

_"They can't save you," said the voice, "but I will take you to someone who can."_

_"R-renji...Rukia?" Byakuya managed, making the woman frown and stare._

_"Still fighting, I see. You have something that matters to you, then, ne? Well, don't worry. I am bringing them too. Focus, now, Kuchiki Byakuya. And when you hear Kurosaki Ichigo's voice again, open your eyes and try to remember."_

_"Wh-who are you?" he whispered._

_"One of the good guys," the woman's voice said with velvet sarcasm, "Go back to sleep now."_

Strangely, sleep came more easily this time. He floated, suspended in the darkness, something hot and clinging wrapping around him and making the pain of his injuries disappear. And slowly, as time went on, he felt strength seep back into his recovering body. While he rested, waiting for his strength to return, he found himself listening for that voice from before.

For a long time, he heard only that odd buzzing that had filled his mind as he had started to fade away. But little by little as his body stabilized, the buzzing grew softer and the voice from before returned to him.

"Byakuya?"

He tried again to open his eyes, and this time found that he could. He discovered upon waking that he was lying on his back in the small teahouse in his inner world. Someone was leaning over him, washing his face with a cool, wet washcloth, then lifting him slightly to sip at a hot cup of green tea.

"Ichigo," he breathed, the words barely audible.

"Ah," the shinigami substitute said, smiling at him, "You remember me now. You didn't before...when I came here and I found you unconscious. Hanatarou told me that you were dying. He didn't know what to do to save you."

Byakuya noticed suddenly that his soul ribbon was extended out from his body, and that Ichigo's looked to have wrapped around it.

"What did you do?" he asked, frowning, "Why are our soul ribbons entwined?"

"I told you before that something weird happened when I touched you...a light. Your cousin said that it was a resonance, and that it meant that we were supposed to accomplish something together. You know, I'm not much for that mystical stuff, but it was a way to keep you from dying, so I just let it happen. I felt this closeness with you and your soul ribbon and mine reached out for each other. They held on to each other. That kept you alive until the royal guard showed up and took you..."

"And Renji and Rukia," Byakuya added, remembering what he had heard in his dream.

"Yeah," Ichigo confirmed, "The royal guard showed up and took us all to the spirit dimension, the royal palace."

"So, why are you here in my inner world?" the noble asked quietly.

"I'm here to help you," Ichigo said, looking through the translucent barrier to where Byakuya's zanpakutou release raged, "You are going to have to get strong again so that you can bring your powers back under your control. So, whenever we're asleep, we'll meet here and work on doing that."

"How?" Byakuya asked softly, "I barely feel any reiatsu in my body at all."

"The royal guardsman, Kirinji, told me that while I am here, I can infuse your spirit centers directly with my reiatsu."

"What?" the noble queried, his eyes widening, "Ichigo, that is dangerous...as much so for you as it is for me. Directly connecting our spirit centers is..."

"Well, without using that method, Kirinji was convinced that you were pretty much screwed, so it's this or dying. What do you want to do?"

Byakuya sighed unhappily.

"I suppose there is no choice," he mused, groaning softly in protest as Ichigo helped him to sit up, then waited, looking at him expectantly.

Byakuya felt a flush on his cheeks that had nothing, he thought, to do with the fever that had been harassing him. His hand rose reflexively and stopped Ichigo's as the younger man sought to loosen his clothing.

"I will do that myself," he said brusquely, reaching for the tie on his yukata.

He felt the flush on his face deepen as his yukata opened, revealing his pale, sculpted chest and slim abdomen.

"I'm not going to be able to sense the position of your spirit centers," Ichigo said, his voice shaking very slightly as his eyes looked down at Byakuya's revealed body and a blush rose on his face and throat, "because I suck at reiatsu sensing, so you'll have to guide me to them."

"Very well," said the noble, steadied somewhat by the fact that Ichigo seemed as unsettled about the exchange as he felt.

He took Ichigo's offered hand in his, flinching and blinking as their touching hands glowed softly for a moment, then returned to normal.

"Tetsuya was right," Byakuya commented, "This is a powerful resonance. But then, it would have to be for it to have allowed you to hold me back from death as you did."

His eyes rose, meeting Ichigo's briefly and making the younger man flush more brightly.

"Thank you, by the way," he said, guiding the younger man's hand to the first of his spirit centers, located near his pounding heart.

A tentative smile rose on Ichigo's lips as he felt the hard, fast cadence of the noble's heart. He waited as Byakuya positioned his fingertips over the chosen spirit center.

"I know you are not adept at controlling the output of your reiatsu," said Byakuya, "so while you flow reiatsu, I will control the rate at which it is absorbed by my spirit centers. Before we begin, we have to connect all seven of our spirit centers."

"Go ahead," Ichigo said, nodding.

"Let your reiatsu begin flowing," the noble directed him.

Byakuya winced as Ichigo's power flared brightly and he was forced to temper the flow, so as not to overwhelm his connected spirit center.

"Stop. The first is connected."

Byakuya's hand guided Ichigo's fingertips to the second of his spirit centers, then to each of the others until all seven of their spirit centers were connected. The noble's hands were shaking softly by the time they were finished and both were blushing furiously at the intimate feel of the connections.

"Are you ready?" Ichigo asked, "We can wait longer if you want, you know."

Byakuya shook his head firmly.

"I will not let Senbonzakura remain in the hands of that monster for a moment longer than I have to. Go ahead and begin the infusion. Just be ready to stop it if I begin to be overwhelmed."

Ichigo took a steadying breath, then loosed his reiatsu, biting at his lips in frustration as the resultant power blazed fitfully and Byakuya panted uncomfortably with the effort of controlling its entry into his spirit centers.

"We must go slowly," he explained, "both because, right now, your power outstrips mine and because when my bankai was used against me, it flooded my spirit centers with too much power and burned them. They are healing, but they are much more sensitive to the flow of reiatsu. Too much will cause intense pain."

"Sorry," Ichigo said ruefully, "I'll try to hold back a little."

Byakuya's eyes narrowed and he managed a discomfited smirk.

"I will not hold my breath," he answered dryly, "You, like Renji, have somewhat feral reiatsu that emerges in an unrestrained flow. It allows you to unleash powerful attacks, but you lack finesse."

"Yeah," Ichigo chuckled, "Well, sometimes you need to forget finesse and just kill the son of a bitch who is trying to kill you, ne? Sometimes there isn't time for a slow reveal of your powers and a lot of chit-chat while you fight. Sometimes it seems like you're fighting for entertainment."

"Not for entertainment," Byakuya corrected him, shaking his head, "Fighting is an art. And that slow reveal is often a way to show respect for an enemy."

He thought for a moment, then sighed softly, remembering his defeat at As Nodt's hands.

"However, I think you are right that there are times when we must abandon our preconceived notions of battle and embrace a more raw and unscripted approach. When the enemy abandons honor and fights with stealth and tricks, one must alter strategy and be adaptable, or he must be prepared to die."

The two men went quiet for a moment, their eyes focused on the flow of white reiatsu that came from Ichigo's body and flowed slowly into Byakuya's.

"I'm sorry that I didn't get to you faster," Ichigo said suddenly, his voice shaking harder and tears rising in his eyes.

"I am more ashamed that I was not strong enough to fight my own battle," Byakuya answered softly, "Ichigo, you shouldn't feel guilty. You promised that you would come to us, and you kept that promise. You promised that you would not let us die, and we are alive."

"Yeah?" Ichigo muttered sarcastically, "_You_ may be alive...and Rukia and Renji, but Byakuya...your soutaichou and a whole lot of shinigamis are dead. I couldn't stop that."

Ichigo caught his breath in surprise as Byakuya's hand reached out and the noble's fingertips captured a tear that had escaped him.

"It wasn't your job to defend Soul Society," he said solemnly, "That was the job of the Gotei 13. _We_ are the ones who were not strong enough. That you saved _any _of us is a credit to you and your strength. And we are grateful. _I_ am grateful."

A tentative smile returned to Ichigo's face.

"Yeah, well maybe you should save your gratitude until we know you're out of danger," he mused, "Remember, I'm still connected to you. I can still damage you."

Byakuya emitted something dangerously close to a soft laugh.

"I am already damaged. And if what I endured in the fighting did not make an end of me, I doubt that just your errant reiatsu will do that."

"Huh," huffed the shinigami substitute, "Well, this _errant _reiatsu trashed your ass once before, so you shouldn't go making assumptions."

"I will keep that in mind," the noble said, smirking very slightly.

Ichigo felt a slowly growing ache that started somewhere in the pit of his stomach and crawled gradually down into his loins as his spirit centers continued to slowly infuse Byakuya's with reiatsu. He shifted so that his increasing state of arousal would not be so obvious, then he froze as he noticed Byakuya, albeit more discreetly, was doing the same.

"Eh," he muttered uncomfortably, "Byakuya...um..."

The noble cleared his throat softly, the blush returning to his pale features as he hastened to explain.

"Kirinji was correct in telling you that a measure like this was necessary to bring my spirit centers back to life and to restore my ability to use what powers are left to me. However, what he did not tell you, probably to save you the embarrassment, is that this method originated as part of a noble male mating ritual."

"What?" Ichigo exclaimed, staring, wide-eyed at the reiatsu that connected their bodies, "He didn't think it was important to _tell_ me something like that before we started doing..._this_?"

"Are you telling me that if you had known how it would affect you, then you would rather have watched me die before your eyes?" Byakuya asked calmly.

"Uh...no, but _Byakuya_! This is...!"

"Do not worry about it," the noble chided him, "If it bothers you, then you are free to relieve the pressure...or, as you have been so kind as to restore my power, I can help you."

_"WHAT?" _Ichigo yelled, his reiatsu blazing so furiously that Byakuya was forced to break the connection, ending the infusion, "No way! There is no way I'm going to let you do that!"

He swallowed hard as he was stricken with a sharp mental image of the Kuchiki clan leader making good on his offer...his dark eyes half-lidded and a serene look on his pale, beautiful face. More shocking to him than what he saw, was the instant reaction he felt in between his thighs.

"Ah...!" he gasped, staring, "What the hell?"

"You look distressed," Byakuya commented, taking a swallow of tea and lying back down on the bed, "Are you all right?"

"Hell no, I'm not all right!" Ichigo exclaimed, "You just gave me the biggest hard on I've ever had in my life, then offered to 'take care of it' for me! You don't think that's going to freak me out? We're not lovers! We're just friends. I'm not gay!"

He stopped and blinked in surprise.

"Are you?" he asked the noble.

"No."

"Then...why did you just offer to...?"

"You rescued me and you restored my powers," Byakuya said sedately, "Doing so made you uncomfortable, so I was simply offering to..."

"Huh, you look pretty _uncomfortable_, yourself," Ichigo pointed out, his eyes narrowing, "Are you _sure_ that you aren't gay?"

"That would be impossible," Byakuya said, still in that maddeningly calm voice, "I was in love with, and married to a woman. I could, I suppose, be bisexual, but I have never given it any serious thought. I merely assumed, as I was attracted to a woman, that I was a heterosexual."

"Okay, but _seriously_, if you don't even know what you are, then why are you offering to...eh...to...you know..." Ichigo stammered, blushing.

"To _relieve_ your discomfort?" Byakuya asked, "I told you. You..."

"I heard that," Ichigo said, cutting him off, "but don't you think it's wrong for two guys that aren't in love with each other to _do that_? I mean, do you even think I'm attractive?"

Byakuya gave him a surprised look.

"Well," he said, pausing to consider the question, "Yes, actually. I think you are attractive. But why does that matter? This is not a matter of sexual love, but compensation for discomfort that I caused you. I apologize for flustering and offending you. I will leave you to your own devices, then."

"Huh? What?" Ichigo said, looking confused as the noble's eyes closed, silently dismissing him.

He looked down at himself, then back at Byakuya's still slightly flushed face. He flinched inwardly as it suddenly occurred to him how soft the noble's lips looked, and how he liked the light sakura scent that always drifted in the air around him.

_What the hell?_

_What is this?_

His blush returned as he realized that Byakuya's eyes had opened and the noble was sitting up and observing him quietly.

"Ichigo," he said, making the younger man freeze and stare at him, "I am sorry if you find this confusing, but you should realize that nobles do not think of love and sexuality as other people do."

"Uh, you got that right," Ichigo managed softly, "I don't get it. How can you...?"

"The bulk of noble marriages occur to secure power, to protect bloodlines, to keep peace between warring clans. Marriages like mine to Hisana are rare. Perhaps it seemed strange to you for me to offer you something of a sexual nature, but to me, I only meant to relieve your discomfort. Unfortunately, it appears to have confused you. You are used to thinking of love as the only reason to behave in a sexual way towards each other. That is because you do not live under the expectation that you will forgo love in favor of protecting what is most important to your clan."

"You can say that again," Ichigo laughed, "I'm glad I'm not noble. I don't think that I could marry someone or have sex with someone I didn't love."

"You never explored things of a sexual nature with a male friend?" Byakuya asked.

"Did you?" Ichigo asked, staring.

"Do not look so surprised," the noble chided him, "It happens frequently as part of maturing."

"But who did you...?"

"Tetsuya and I spent the greater portion of that part of our lives in each others' company. We were young, male and sexually curious. We were never in love and we never took any of it seriously."

"Did you have sex with him?" asked Ichigo, looking surprised.

"No," replied the noble, "It was just harmless, mutual exploration. We wanted to know what it would be like to be kissed...to be held...to be touched. We did not step over that last boundary because noble males who do that can become pregnant."

"Whoa!" exclaimed the younger man, "Really?"

"I did tell you that the procedure we used to restore my spirit centers was part of a _male_ noble mating ritual. You see, sometimes it happens that resonant souls are both male, in which case, the body of the male who receives seed from the other male will form an internal chamber that captures the seed and reiatsu and allows it to mature. When the reiatsu has matured, it emerges through the body and then solidifies into the body of a shinigami infant. Thus, even if resonants are both male, they can reproduce."

"What about two females? How would they...?"

"With noble females, the inducing of climax causes the release of an egg from one female. Their mutual reiatsu gathers around it and causes the formation of the reiatsu chamber, as in the cases of males."

"Kami, that's just..."

"It is very different than human reproduction. I know. I suppose your reaction is warranted, and again, I did not mean to annoy you."

"Ah...no harm done," Ichigo said, swallowing hard as a few errant strands of hair trickled onto Byakuya's face, teasing him and making the ache in his loins increase.

_Shit..._

_I'm attracted to Byakuya?_

_No way! He's a guy. I'm not...! But, if I'm not, then why am I reacting this way to him? Is it because of what we did to restore his powers? But even though it made us aroused, it didn't 'change' us. We are what we are. And...I guess I'm not what I thought I was._

_Weird..._

"Are you all right, Ichigo?" Byakuya asked, breaking into his thoughts.

"Did you like kissing Tetsuya?" Ichigo asked without thinking.

"It was pleasant," Byakuya answered, looking somewhat flustered at the question, "But as I said, we were not in love...only exploring."

"R-right," Ichigo said, looking down at the floor.

His eyes wandered along the floor as his mind continued to spin.

"Byakuya?"

"Hai."

"Eh...would you mind if...? Do you think that, you know, just to see...we could...?"

He barely managed a soft, surprised inhale as Byakuya's lips captured his, then everything exploded onto lovely shades of gold and white.

_Holy hell!_

_What just happened?_


	4. The Bonding

**Chapter 4: The Bonding**

**(Heh, spending today just OUTSIDE of COMIC-CON because even though my kids managed to get badges, my husband and I could not. DARN! But there's still a lot to do outside the convention center. And I have Disneyland to look forward to tomorrow. Yes, today I am in the happiest nerd place on earth and tomorrow, the most expensive happy place on earth! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the new chapter. I am having a wonderful time and wishing all of you lovely readers were here! Ah, but some of you probably managed to wrangle some Comic-Con tickets, right? :) *hugs* Love, Spunky)**

_"Byakuya?"_

_"Hai."_

_"Eh...would you mind if...? Do you think that, you know, just to see...we could...?"_

_He barely managed a soft, surprised inhale as Byakuya's lips captured his, then everything exploded onto lovely shades of gold and white._

_Holy hell!_

_What just happened?_

The explosion of light around the two men left Ichigo unable to see for several long moments, and somehow, in that small amount of time, he ended up falling forward and coming down onto Byakuya's softly heaving breast. His mouth instinctively pressed harder to the surprised noble's, and he felt the overwhelming desire to get closer in body as well. His hands worked to loosen and open their clothing, as their kisses grew rougher and more wanton.

Byakuya gave a fluttering, sighing moan of contentment, that seemed to go straight to Ichigo's aroused loins. He moved his hips, rubbing up provocatively against the partially undressed noble, and causing dangerously beautiful flares of erotic reiatsu between them.

He didn't mean to let things go so far, and in fact, had only meant to share a few tentative kisses with Byakuya. But the more he kissed the raven-haired man, the more he looked into those lovely, widened, steel-gray eyes, the closer he wanted to be to the man.

_Kami! I've never felt so turned on in my life! Now, I wish I'd kissed him before. Damn, this feels so good, and he 's so sexy! I feel like I'll die if we don't get closer!_

_But..._

He shifted slightly, so that his hardened member teased Byakuya's entrance, and he felt the noble's slender hands tighten on him as Byakuya braced himself to be taken.

"G-gods," Ichigo panted, "I don't know if we should do this. You know, I'm a virgin. I might hurt you. And what about what you said, about nobles getting pregnant?"

"Ah," panted Byakuya in reply, "You needn't worry. If you make love to me, I won't get pregnant. It's when two noble males mate that..."

"Hah, good!" Ichigo moaned, cutting him off, "Oh my god, Byakuya! It's starting to hurt. I want you so bad!"

He blushed brightly at the boldness of his words, and even more brightly at the fact that Byakuya seemed more than a little interested in moving forward as well. His head tilted back, and as Ichigo pressed forward to explore the sweet, exposed flesh of his throat, he instinctively began to enter the noble. Byakuya made a brazen sound of surrender and his hips rose as Ichigo's descended, bringing their bodies together and making them one.

Incredible heat seemed to surround Ichigo, and he moaned louder and kissed Byakuya more ferociously.

Byakuya met his kisses with equal abandon, shrugging free of his clothes and wrapping himself tightly around the shinigami substitute.

_What the hell am I doing? _Ichigo wondered dazedly, _Is this because of that thing we did to help heal Byakuya's spirit centers? Is that why?_

_I feel like I can't stop...like I'll die if I stop._

It occurred to him then that as they had joined, the connections between their spirit centers had formed again, and they pulsated brightly with every hard, grinding thrust.

_Ah! So, this has got to be healing him, ne?_

_This...?_

_Oh gods, he's so beautiful!_

_I can't get enough..._

_Byakuya..._

_How can this be happening?_

"Ichigo...!" Byakuya hissed breathlessly, gripping the shinigami substitute's strong shoulders, "Kami, what is happening?"

His body went taut, and he gasped, crying out heatedly as his body seized, and wetness erupted onto their skin. And the sight of Byakuya's handsome face, written over in bliss, and his hands clenching so tightly, made the pleasure explode through Ichigo's body from end to end. His mind went blank for a moment as Byakuya's voice sounded again, moaning his name and panting so hard, Ichigo was sure he would pass out. But he just held on to Ichigo, resting his face wearily against the shinigami substitute's shoulder, and blushing furiously.

"Ah...! Wh-whoa..." Ichigo managed shakily, running his fingers through the noble's sweat dampened hair and coaxing his head up off of his shoulder, "Damn...I didn't mean to get so carried away. I...I didn't hurt you, did I?"

He felt a jolt of panic, remembering what kind of shape Byakuya's body was really in.

_But it's not like I made love to him in real life, right? I mean, we're in his inner world, so...how real was that?_

But looking down into Byakuya's wide, deeply sated eyes suggested it was all too real.

"Hey," he said worriedly, "That's not going to hurt you, you know, in real life? Your actual body?"

"No," Byakuya assured him, still blushing, but looking amused, "Although, it did singe my recovering spirit centers when you...erm...c-climaxed."

"Huh?" Ichigo said, blinking and flushing, "Shoot, sorry about that. I don't know what came over me. I guess that mating ritual is pretty powerful, ne?"

"It is," Byakuya affirmed, "but it is not all that is responsible for what happened between us. Ichigo, this resonance between us is incredibly powerful. And that is something I don't understand. It would be natural enough, were we a noble mated pair. But I am a shinigami and you are a human."

"Hey," Ichigo said, smirking at him and earning a soft glare, "We're just a couple of souls, Byakuya. It doesn't matter what we are out there. In this place, we're the same."

Byakuya smiled in spite of himself.

"That is true, isn't it?" he mused, closing his eyes as Ichigo's fingers caressed his face, "It is less complicated here than it is out there."

He went quiet for a moment, gazing out at the maddened swirl of pink petals that spun threateningly around the teahouse they occupied.

"Ichigo, will you tell me something?"

"Hmmm?" the younger man said, relaxing his pleasantly sated body against the noble's and planting soft kisses on Byakuya's pale throat.

"How, exactly, are you coming to me? What brings you past those petal blades?"

Ichigo smiled.

"I don't have to go through them," he explained, "I just seem to be going through the link that's between our souls. Why? Does that worry you?"

"No," said the noble, "It confuses me. Ichigo, everything I know suggests that the things that are happening between us shouldn't be happening."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, frowning, "Aren't there sometimes exceptions?"

"No, not usually. But then, you are used to crossing boundaries you are not supposed to, doing things that you should not be able to."

"Does that make you angry?" the younger man asked softly.

"It makes me curious," Byakuya said, capturing Ichigo's face in his hands, "Who are you, Kurosaki Ichigo, that none of the rules that we subscribe to seem to apply to you?"

"Hmmm," Ichigo chuckled, "I think I'm just the guy who's damned determined that you are going to come out of this okay."

Byakuya went quiet for a moment, studying Ichigo's handsome face closely.

"Why is that?" he asked softly, "Why does that matter so much to you? I was your enemy once. And even though we have moved beyond that, I know I have not encouraged anything to develop between us."

Ichigo gave him a knowing smirk.

"But, what you just did showed me pretty clearly that you can't resist this any more than I can."

"Why do you think I would resist?" Byakuya asked, seeking his mouth again for a flurry of kisses.

"Well, usually, you're such a stickler for the rules, you know?"

"That has not always been the case," the noble explained, "And there is something about you, Kurosaki Ichigo, that makes me remember more of my former self. It has long been that way, though only now does it begin to make sense to me."

"Can you tell me something?" Ichigo asked suddenly, "When did you start to...I don't know, _have strong feelings_ about me?"

Byakuya gave him a sudden, tentative smile.

"A better question would be, _When did I not have strong feelings about you_."

"What?" the younger man asked, wearing a mystified expression.

"The first feelings I had were irritation...you and I weren't far apart in what we wanted. We both wanted to protect Rukia, but I felt trapped and unable to do so. And more than that, I felt trapped in that it seemed my duty to stop you. It was a source of great frustration that I was fighting you for something I didn't even want. When you defeated me, you also absolved me of the heavy weight of that responsibility. So, by defeating me, you freed me to follow my heart. What heart would not love the one that freed it?"

"S-so, you started to have feelings for me, all of the way back then?"

"It was not yet love, but gratitude and admiration. And I observed you from a distance, after that time, assisting in what ways I could without openly disobeying the rules. But, with every day came a growing respect for just how determined you were to protect your friends. And over time, I began to have a deeper faith in you, a trust that you would never fail the ones you loved. You have no idea how it felt whenI was swept up in the Zanpakutou Rebellion, and even when I threatened you openly, you wouldn't believe that I would truly betray you. You, Rukia and Renji all remained faithful, despite a mountain of evidence that I had betrayed the shinigamis and joined the rebelling zanpakutous."

"Well," Ichigo said, blushing slightly at the unusually direct praise coming from one not given to such things, "none of us thought, for a moment, that you would ever really betray us."

"I made a mistake in not trusting you," Byakuya confessed, "I was terrified that Muramasa would discover what Senbonzakura and I were trying to do, and that he would kill us before we could find Kouga and complete our mission to kill him. The reason we succeeded, in the end, was because you and Rukia fended off the hollows, giving me the clear path to fight Kouga. Then, after, you won my heart all over again with the way you comforted Muramasa. You seemed to understand the tragedy there...the loss of connection that isolated Muramasa and made him so very desperate to seek his master."

"He was just trying to help Kouga all along," Ichigo said softly, "He didn't realize that he should have confronted Kouga sooner to make it a more equal partnership."

"That you could set his soul at peace, as you did, is a great comfort. You are very wise sometimes, for one so young. You showed that wisdom, that strength again, when you were willing to lose your powers to protect us all. Is was painful for all of us, watching you, after seeing you fight to the very ends of your strength to defeat Aizen, then falling back into blindness and powerlessness."

"But, even though I couldn't feel it, I knew you were there...Rukia, Renji and you."

Byakuya bit his lip gently and didn't answer.

"Yeah, I know you came to Karkura Town sometimes. Because the breeze would come out of nowhere and blow through the sakura branches, and I'd watch the petals fall and I'd know it was you who disturbed them."

He chuckled at the blush his words brought to the noble's face and throat.

"So...back then, you were...?"

"I don't know," Byakuya said with honesty, "I felt a lot of things as I watched you. But none so profound as what I felt when the collected reiatsu in that sword Urahara-san made passed into you, and I felt our connection strengthen immeasurably. Then, I knew I had begun to love you."

"But why didn't you tell me that?" Ichigo asked, frowning, "If you knew that..."

"I was not allowed to cross those lines and love a human. So, even though my heart turned in that direction, I could not say the words to you. It escaped me in other ways...an unbidden smile here, a bit too much reaction there. But I could not speak it."

"But you're saying it now."

"I have no choice. My very life is in your hands. Ichigo, when you arrived in Soul Society after the quincy attack and you came to find me, I made decision. I decided in that very dark moment, that I was going to leave everything in your hands. I gave you the contents of my heart and entrusted to you the task that had been the sum of my existence...Protect the things that matter most...Rukia, Renji and Soul Society."

Ichigo's face reddened and his eyes looked sad.

"You _do_ know that I wasn't able to do anything, ne?" he said softly, "I haven't saved anybody or done anything important in defending Soul Society, Renji or Rukia. And I haven't found the way to save you yet."

"But you have already saved me," Byakuya insisted, "You comforted me with your presence, and you came to me here to try to give me strength. Those are not small things, Kurosaki Ichigo, though they come very naturally to you. And know this...I have perfect confidence that you will emerge from this victorious. You are going to make sure that Soul Society does not fall."

"I don't know," Ichigo said, shaking his head ruefully, "It's in pretty hellish shape, now."

"You are not at fault for that," Byakuya said, reaching up to touch the younger man's face with soft fingertips, "That was the failure of the Gotei 13. It was our job to defend that place, not yours, so the failure rests with us. That you have accepted my request to do what you can to defend it now, only means that you will stop that man from completing his destruction of our world."

"Well, I'm a ways from doing that, yet. I'm going to do it, though. I promise."

"I know you will."

Ichigo smiled.

"Byakuya, why do you have so much faith in me? What did I do to...?"

"What a foolish question," the noble said, shaking his head, "You protected Rukia. You came to me and reassured me that the people and the place that mean the most to me will not be destroyed. My own strength failed, but you are still strong. You can still do what this weak person is incapable of."

"Byakuya, you are going to be strong again. You just need time and healing. You are being healed now. You're going to wake up again soon. I promise."

"But...what will be left?" Byakuya asked softly, looking out at the uncontrolled petal storm, "Even if I am healed, my greatest power is now in the hands of the enemy. Who knows how many people will die from the cut of the sword I no longer control?"

"Don't worry about that now," Ichigo chided him gently, "Just take one thing at a time. Get up and around in here. And then, you and I are going to work on getting control of Senbonzakura."

He lifted himself out of the bed and crossed the room, where he began making the tea. Byakuya sat up in the bed, gazing out at the swirling petals, his mind wandering and pondering deeply the mystery of what was happening.

_I still wonder how it is that we have bonded so strongly. I almost begin to feel strength seeping from him into me. That well of strength is feeding my broken soul now, bolstering and making it stronger. But, how do I take the next step? Senbonzakura won't speak to me. I do not feel the touch of his soul. I wonder now, if I will ever feel that presence inside me again._

"Here you go," Ichigo said, handing him the cup of tea.

"Thank you, Ichigo."

The two sipped quietly at the tea, both highly aware of the glaring task ahead of them, but neither speaking of it. When the tea was gone, Ichigo slipped into the bed and curled his body around the noble's, warming his lips with kisses and soothing his wounded spirit with that great well of strength he wielded. They surrendered once more, to the powerful bond that now connected them, Ichigo's body feeding the injured noble's with a deep well of love and calming reiatsu. They fell asleep with their bodies still joined, blissfully sated, and wholly unaware as the petals outside slowed slightly in their wild paths and some began to fall to the ground.


End file.
